Gender Differences In Aggression

Gender roles are beliefs about the ways in which communal and societal roles are defined by gender (Slavkin&Stright, 2000). In traditional families, traditional gender roles are common. The male is the breadwinner; while the female is responsible for childcare and housekeeping. This pattern defines masculinity as assertive, aggressive, and independent (Eagly, 1987; Eagly
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Steffen, 199284) and femininity is defined as emotional, sensitive and nurturing (Bem, 1981; Slavkin&Stright 2000). Gender differences have been discussed thoroughly by many researchers in the fields of language, education and others(see for instance, Locke, 2011, Okamoto, Slattery Rashotte, & Smith-Lovin, 2002, and &Kiesling, 2007). In fact there are many historical incidents

Social role theory (Eagly, 1987) argues that the societal division of workgenerates stereotypical gender roles that confine women intodomestic roles that stress nurturing and compassionwhereas men are considered to be “breadwinner” (Archer,2009, p. 252) that encourage dominance andcompetition (Eagly,Johannesen-Schmidt, & Van Engen,., 2003).As a result, social roletheory assumes that the sex difference in violent behavior islarger the moreimbalanced and unfair societies are in respect ofwomen’s

Wheelwright, 2004). On the other hand, the use of physiological measures such as functional magnetic resonance imaging as indicators of empathy shows that men and women obtain parallel scores (LeSure-Lester, 2000). Therefore, in studies that applyneuro-scientific and physiological approaches, gender differences in empathy are trivial. Yet, the most convincing proof for gender differences in empathy is offered by studies using self-report data to evaluate empathy (Rueckert, 2011). Females score significantly more than males on the Emotional Quotient (EQ) (Baron-Cohen &Wheelright, 2004) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980). Socialization and culture play an important role in the development of empathy according to Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright, (2004) Eisenberg and Lennon (1983) proposed that biases in self-report scales could influence the observed gender differences. These differences may be because men may be unwilling to report empathic encounters due to social anticipations. When a tool is thought to measure s empathy, it may induce responses affected by an individual’s classificationto gender stereotypes (Michalska, Kinzler, &Decety., 2013). One of the most common stereotypes in society is that females are more considerate and empathetic than males (Rueckert, 2011). Thus, it is